Saturday, 10 June 2017

I'm A Wonder Women, Let Me Go Get My Rope!

Dearest hearts,

The world could be such a wonderful place if only people would have love in their hearts.

HUGE SPOILER ALERT for "Wonder Woman" 2017 with the gorgeous Gal Gadot as the lead!!!

I don't get over excited about movies, unless they are Star Wars Universe or Marvel related. I like some of the DC Universe but some heroes I find rather odd and unconvincing. When I was a wee lass I remember looking up to Princess Leia as a feminine model of how to be a kick arse lady. Later on a bit, I bumped into the Wonder Woman series. I remember thinking how wonderful if would be to save the world and be so strong and powerful and good looking at the same time - a goddess in its own rights. I didn't make a difference between Marvel and DC back then, but as time flew by some heroes became more prominent than others. Of course for me Superman will always be Christopher Reeve and Batman will always be Christian Bale, as The Joker would always be Heath Ledger. Some actors are just made for certain parts / roles. I never believed I would live the time when I would see Wonder Woman of Black Widow having their own movie on the big screen - one item from the #bucketlist is now checked as Gal Gadot has her first all hers "Wonder Woman" movie! And I swear she was made for this part! She fits the role like a glove! I'm more than thrilled they chose to cast a non-american as the leading lady. Gal was Miss Israel and she was a Bond girl, played in Fast and Furious, but was thinking of retiring due to "no luck" on hitting a good part on the big screen. She almost didn't try out for WW and when she did she had no clue for what the audition was. It was all hush hush. But trust me... Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman at heart!

I have to say Wonder Woman felt like an empowering cinematic story that all women should watch. I have never felt so uplifted after going out from a movie. I have heard many people say that it is one of the best DCEU movies since Batman: The Dark Knight - I have to wholeheartedly agree with that! It is so beautifully made that it kicks any Batman, Superman, Supergirl, Suicide Squad... you name it!... arse. But let's start from the very beginning... the movies first half hour explores the childhood of Diana, Princess of Themyscira. Themyscira is the island created by Zeus so that the Amazons would live on it. Amazons, in case you skipped your Greek History lessons, are the tribe of women warriors. Here though the history gets a twist... according to Greek legend the amazons were the daughters of Area (God of War) and Harmonia. Amazons are a tribe brutal and aggressive and their only concern was War. Well... Wonder Woman amazons are the creation of Zeus to help and guide the humanity out of the war but into loves path. Of course when you see them you can't imagine them knowing anything else except war and fighting and extending ones boundaries so you could be stronger... just look at the training sessions, how the fight, how they ride... It's magnificent!

When you check closely IMDB and you pay attention to the end credits you will have an amazing fact connected to the Amazon scenes. When I first watched the faces of the tough ladies of Themyscira, I was wonderfully surprised to see a vibrant environment, ladies of all shapes, sizes and pigment. There are 17 named amazons in the end credits + 15 more ladies from the island, listed as guards, warriors or people living in the city of Amazons. 11 of the 17 have their age listed; average age is over 41 years old, oldest Amazon is 57 and youngest is 26! 7 Amazons are played by women older than 40 - Connie Nielsen (playing Hippolyta, Diana's mother) and Robin Wright Penn (Antiope, Hippolyta's sister) are both 51 years old! More than half of the Amazons are ladies of colour. These fine ladies are stuntswomen, personal trainers and even boxers! This is the most realistic movie I have seen up to date. In a world where beauty and grace and sex-appeal is thought to reside only with white Women, 90-60-90 shapes and a age somewhere in between 18-23 max... Wonder Women is a refreshing breath of fresh air. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes!

I extremely liked small Diana being all tough as a cookie, strongwilled enough to sneak out during the night in order to train with her aunt. I love the perfect match of the 2 powerful sisters: Hippolyta all wisdom, grace, motherhood and eternal love VS. Antiope all power, ration, strong will and fearless. You can see Hippolyta was the mother figure and Antiope the "Dad" Diana always looked up to. This goes to show that small ones will always find in their life a strong leading model, and that model doesn't necessarily need to be a me one. Hippolyta is a single mother - even though Zeus is the father - and she is very protective. She wishes to keep Diana under a crystal ball, for fear of her learning the truth about herself and her destiny. But aren't all mothers like that? She feels so human and frail... Antiope is the strong metal hand covered with silk gloves. She is the one that trains Diana "5 times harder" until she gets her own arse kicked by the Princess. Diana gets faced with her mission soon after defeating Antiope. She spots a plane crashing into the ocean, dives quickly in and rescues... a man! Meet Steve Trevor, a British spy - coming from the First World War - that was gathering intelligence from the Germans.

FFW Sad moments when Themyscira is attacked by the Germans, Amazons win but Antiope dies (obviously no matter how bad arse you are, bullets can't be dodged). The fighting scenes on the beach and Antiope yelling "Shield!!!" reminded me of Lagertha and the Shieldmaidens in Vikings. FFW Steve is taken prisoner but he reveals his mission and the fact that he must go back with the Intel he has gathered as he must help stop The War! Of course queue Diana (chest swelling) giving glorious speeches to her mother, telling her that it's the Amazons duty to help lead the world into peace and killing Ares (the God of War, who has returned). Of course, Hippolyta as a mother declines to let her go help Steve, so Diana sneaks into the night... steals the Lasso of Truth and the sword named Killer of Gods, gets a badass armour, gets her robe and drags Steve to the harbour. Diana is a girl with strong will, faith and courage. She believes in the right thing to do and acts accordingly even when others tell her different. She follows her heart! And that's why I love Wonder Woman - she is true to herself and her beliefs.

FFW Diana and Steve reach London - and what a sorry old place it seems in comparison to the island where Diana spend all her life! All shades of grey and dark and gloomy and noisy. Steve's relationship with Diana, bringing her into this new world and guiding her is truly touching and sweet and funny at the same time. I particularly loved the scene where they were trying to find something fitting for Diana to wear out, as she was wearing only the amazon armour and that was not quite... appropriate for the 1900s. Hell... there were no women votes back then yet... all that women were supposed to do were cooking, cleaning and making babies. Loved the Secretary = Slave pun ;))) FFW to No Man's Land scene, where we get to see Wonder Woman for the first time in her full armour, striding away to save the day - you have to wait a bit for that, as it comes after 75 minutes of movie time, but it's well worth the wait! The action sequence, stating with Steve Trevor telling her that no man can cross that field made me think of The Lord of The Rings. No Man could kill the Nazgul and the Dead Which King. Indeed, No Man could, but a woman would! Women are much stronger than men would have us think we are. The key is believing in yourself and having courage, having heart!

Diana, Wonder Woman, stops bullets with her bare hands. She is strong and fast and powerful and she counts on herself to get through her troubles. She doesn't need to be rescued - she rescues others! No Mans Land is a huge teary eyes moment - it was so for me and for the others in the cinema. BONUS POINTS on the reversal of roles in the movie. Chris Pine was made for the role of Steve Trevor. He managed to act knightly towards Diana, respect her and understand that She is more powerful / strong / fast and yet act caringly and protective in her presence. He understand that Diana takes the lead and he must follow when it comes to the battle scenes. Just so as she took his lead when coming to London and blending in so he could find Ares. The No Mans Land scene where they dump having a sniper vs. being a shield raiser for Diana, so she could jump over a church - destroy the tower - eliminate the threat... priceless!!!

FFW You kinda see that Steve Trevor going rogue will be the end of it... But if you're not much into comic books you won't know all the twists and turns. The villain of the movie according to Diana is Ares, the God of War. The villain according to Steve is... humanity. He believes that there is no God creating this War of Wars, but rather the humans are so foul in themselves that they have both good and bad in them, but the negative side prevails. So... when Wonder Woman kills the German general, whom she assumes is Ares, she thinks that all will stop. She thinks that once Ares is dead, war and fighting and suffering will no longer exist. Well... bummer... as she gets the "wrong Ares". The 3rd act of the movie, albeit being CGI heavy, it's a piece of art to behold. It shows Wonder Woman as The Goddess she is and reveals a fact that all small children who know their Ancient Greek mythology should know: only a God can kill another God - ergo, Wonder Woman is a Goddess, the sword is not the Gods Killer, she is! "I'll save today. You'll save the world" - must be one of the saddest lines in the movie. Of course, either way the relationship between Steve and Diana was doomed from the start. She, as goddess, is immortal and he is human. This could have not worked out... hence having a heroes death was the way to discharge Steve. He was brave and like Diana he stood up for what he believed was right. Our of love for her, he sacrifices himself, while saving London from the horrible chemical attack planned by the Germans. As he saved the day, Diana battles Ares in order to save the World from the God of War. Obviously Our Wonder Woman wins. Love prevails.

"It's about what you believe.

And I believe in LOVE.

Only love will truly save the world." WW

P.S. I have first watched Wonder Woman - The 2017 movie - on the weekend it was released. It was a pleasure seeing it 3D on the big screen and I highly recommend it! It's an empowering movie that make a you think and feel as if you could overcome anything and everything. If you truly believe in yourself and you have courage to follow your heart, if you fight for the ones you love, you are a Wonder Woman yourself! Now... each time I hear the Wonder Woman theme... I feel the need to go grab my robe and punch through the wall of sheer stupidity that some display. You are strong, You are smart, you are beautiful, you are perfect just the way that you are. But most of all, all you lost women out there, don't forget that YOU ARE LOVED! And that you have enough Love in your hearts to conquer it all! Just believe! Thank you Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot and P. Jenkins for reminding us that! 💗🐞 I'm a Wonder Woman, let me go get my Rope!